Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning Cuts Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning trimmed its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 15.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,644 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,276 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up approximately 0.8% of Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 147,273,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $15,599,200,000 after purchasing an additional 7,883,515 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,938,242,000 after buying an additional 3,323,334 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,539,268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,342 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,300,941,000 after acquiring an additional 697,961 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,909,069 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,223,775,000 after purchasing an additional 204,546 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.83.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $2,320,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,976. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $2,320,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,976. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 37,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.19, for a total transaction of $5,218,011.99. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $368,246,045.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 385,639 shares of company stock worth $53,002,729. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $144.31 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $125.81 and its 200-day moving average is $118.49. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $145.32. The company has a market capitalization of $397.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The company had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Oracle Profile

Oracle Corporation offers products and services that address enterprise information technology environments worldwide. Its Oracle cloud software as a service offering include various cloud software applications, including Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise performance management, Oracle Fusion cloud supply chain and manufacturing management, Oracle Fusion cloud human capital management, Oracle Cerner healthcare, Oracle Advertising, and NetSuite applications suite, as well as Oracle Fusion Sales, Service, and Marketing.